The Creature We Have Born
by HenrikSky
Summary: A boy from LaPush joins the pack years after the Cullens have left Forks ,the thing is, there are no vampires in the area to cause this. A wolf named Aaron investigates and finds himself looking through the bedroom window that was Bella's, and imprints on the daughter of Renesme & Jacob. But what exactly is a human-wolf-vamp? And as always the Volturi want to know is she a threat?
1. Chapter 1

**CREATURE by Henrik SKY **

**CHAPTER 1- THE NEW WOLF**

_DISCLAIMER- ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE FROM THE TWILIGHT SAGA SERIES EXCEPT FOR THE ONES I HAVE DREAMED UP IN THE POST TWILIGHT ERA WORLD. STEPHANIE MEYER OWNS THE MOST OF IT. _

**25 YEARS AFTER BELLA BECOMES A VAMPIRE**

**From the point of view of Aaron Redtree, member of the Quileute tribe, and wolf pack. **

There hadn't been vampires in Forks for years now. Not even the famous Cullen clan had shown up in more than 20. I was just a kid when they had left, and when the true Alpha of our ancestral pack had disappeared. No one really ever talked about him anymore, and the elder wolf, Sam, would stare down anyone who mentioned his name.

When the Cullens left, the Quileute boys stopped turning. Collin and Brady were the last of them and I was only a few years younger back then. My time came when I was 15. The doctor and his family of parasites had left but there was talk among the elders of some of their friends coming to check in to see if they were still in the Olympic Peninsula. And like that, I wolfed out along with a bunch of guys I was in school with from LaPush. We became a new generation of wolves together, Sam was still pack master but we mostly ran together. We never really found out what the purpose of the vamp that came through was, since there weren't any killings or disappearances in the area.

Still that was when I was a teen, technically now I am thirty – six but I haven't changed physically since I was 20, and I looked more like in my mid twenties. The weird thing is, recently one of the Quileute kids who goes to Forks high school, has joined the pack. No one has wolfed out in years, my group is still the youngest left among the wolves. We searched the area for two weeks and we didn't smell vampire anywhere. There were also no knew kids registered at Forks high, the Cullens used to come back every once in a while, the elders told us. But this was too soon for one of their visits. If our kids where going to start changing there had to be something causing it.

I went to speak with Billy Black, the one elder who might speak to me about the "cold ones" as they put it. He was also the father of the true pack master, Jacob Black.

When I got to his house I walked in. He was getting quite old and busted in that wheelchair. No one ever made him come to the door. We usually called out that we were coming in and he'd call back to us. He had company that day, and it wasn't a Quileute.

" Hey Aaron," Billy waved me over. "Want you to meet someone."

The man sitting at the table with Billy was white, wearing a police uniform. He had to have been in his early to mid sixties with hair whitening around the edges.

"Hi," I stuck my hand out.

"Police Chief Charlie Swan." Said Billy as the officer shook my hand. " This is Aaron Redtree."

"Nice to meet you Aaron, call me Charlie." Said Chief Swan as he was sizing me up. He seemed to have made a decision about me, and it looked like it worried him.

"What can I do for you Aaron?" Billy asked.

I took a look at Charlie and then back at Billy.

"Come to complain about your group of friends?" He asked. Billy really knew how to get to the point in a discreet way.

"How'd you know? Maybe a little later though Billy."

And quicker than he could agree, I saw the look on Charlie's face as he popped off his seat.

"I gotta get going anyway Billy. Good to see you as usual, I'll be by for Fish Fry Friday. Nice to meet you Aaron." And with that he strutted out to the back where I saw a police car pull out of the trees and onto the main road.

"What's with him?" I asked Billy peering out. The reflection of my white wife beater tank and black pants mirrored me in the window as Billy spoke.

"Oh nothing he's just trying to avoid having to hear anything about wolves that's all."

"What? Does he know about us?" No one outside the tribe new about wolves, and especially about vampires. It was a part of the wolf thing you couldn't physically tell anyone.

"He has special privileges that man. He's been through….. a lot."

"Oh." Was all I could say.

"So I guess you're coming to talk about the newest member of the pack and why in fact things have started to….change again."

"Well yeah Billy, we haven't heard nor sniffed out anything that could explain why Brandon would change."

"Yes it does seem strange that without a vampire in the area this could happen."

Billy didn't say anything for a long time after that. We sat and starred at the table. I was thinking, I think he was waiting.

"What do you mean he's been through a lot?"

"You know I always knew… you were a smart one." Billy said. Now it was my turn to wait.

"I couldn't tell you why this has happened to Brandon, but I don't think that more boys will be changing."

"Why?" I asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see, though wont we."

I thought I would get more information out of Billy Black. But I really didn't ask him anything specifically or give him much to go on, so I can't really blame him.

I left and went back to my place. I shared a small house out by the beach with Embry. He became part of the pack in the group before me when the Cullens where last in town. Embry should be in his 40's right now but he looks just the same as I do, heck I've been alive now for about thirty years, more but we're not getting much older , every five years is like one. Sam and Paul are moving along faster than us, I think it's mostly because they've imprinted and have kids.

That night we went running together, this was Brandon's first run with us. It was nice to see the run through his eyes, all fresh and new, the way it was when I first joined the pack. His thoughts were quiet and mostly reactions to physical rush of running as one connected unit. We stopped at a river in the woods a few miles north of LaPush to drink and build a fire. I had been holding a bag with our clothes in my teeth as we ran. It felt good to put it down.

Embry was sitting across from Brandon who looked windswept and elated from the run. He was growing fast since his wolf puberty hit.

"How many inches you grown so far?" Embry asked him.

"About five." He smiled.

"Damn I remember my knees and shoulder aching." Embry said throwing some branches into the fire.

"They do but it feels good to run." Brandon said.

"Brandon," Sam started, "We as a pack have a purpose to protect our tribe." Everyone became still. "Protect from a certain danger out there."

"The cold ones." Brandon answered.

"Yes, the cold ones." Said Sam, he paused and then continued, "Not for many years have there been vampires in our territory and the treaty with the coven known as the Cullens still stands…..on a _technicality_."Sam continued. " Our pack emerged after many, many years because of this coven's return to Forks, this trait in our genetic line only shows itself when their presence is a threat to our people.

So you see there is a problem we are trying to solve…. Not a problem but a mystery. The Cullens have not returned, and there hasn't been a trace of vampire in the area for about twenty years now."

Everyone was still and silent as Sam explained. Brandon's brow furrowed as he listened to Sam's words.

"Brandon we need to know everything that happened around the time you became a wolf. Start around about a month ago."

Brandon sat hunched over, in a gangly state. This full strength and muscle hadn't fully grown in yet. Everyone's eyes were on him.

"Um…"

"Well start maybe the week you changed, did you notice anything different any new people you might have seen around school? Did you go into the woods alone? Have you traveled to Seattle?"

"No…, I- " Brandon looked nervous. "So vampires have to be around for us to change."

"That's the way it works." Said Jared. "But we've been running practically as far out as we think would do the trick and we haven't picked anything up. That's what is confusing us. We had those tics up our asses for about three years because of Ja-, the Cullens living in Forks and they're kind coming through." Jared caught himself. The tribe didn't talk about Jacob anymore. After he left the pack there was no returning. A few other wolves joined him but they disbanded. It was still unclear why Jacob broke off from Sam and why Lea and Seth joined him.

"Well I haven't really left the reservation except for school. Plus my car broke down on Friday, so I haven't been able to go out much." He said this and we all smiled. The days of modern transportation stopping us from travel seemed far off and irrelevant.

"Yeah I heard you came home in a police car, naked, you're mom freaked." Brady teased.

"Yeah she thought I had done something weird." He laughed.

"You came home in a police car?" I asked suddenly.

"And naked!" Jared teased.

"Yeah, so what?" Brandon started getting defensive. Typical of new wolves with their anger.

"Do you remember the name of the officer that brought you home?"

"Yeah, Starsky, David Starsky." He joked. "I don't know. He knew Billy though."

"Officer Sawn?" I asked.

"Yeah that's it. How'd you know?"

I was on my feet and taking my shirt off facing the woods before Sam could stop me. For some reason I knew Charlie Swan was involved somehow in what was happening. Billy already knew as well, he just wanted me to figure it out and go see because maybe his current state wouldn't allow him too. And what did he mean Charlie had been through a lot? I made my way back to the beach house and opened my computer. I did a search for Charlie Swan. Two things popped up; his badge number with the white pages current address, and a news article.

The article was about a graduate of Forks High who had contracted a strange virus on her honeymoon. Her name was Bella Swan, her father was Charlie Swan. The article didn't say who in town she married, but it was dated around twenty five years ago, a very significant time in our history. The older wolves would have maybe seen her around if they went out to Forks.

I memorized the address and ran out to Forks through the woods. Charlie Swan lived close to the end of a residential rode with a few houses. I slipped my black pants on after changing and quietly walked around the house. He was in the living room watching some sports event on TV drinking a beer. I heard someone moving around upstairs and climbed up the tree out front to get a closer look. Maybe there was an office up there where he kept some file on the Cullens or unexplained disappearances.

A light went on in the front bedroom and a crouched in the shadow of the branches to see. Into the bedroom walked a tall slender girl with pale white skin and long black hair like a Quileute. She had full breasts and long legs, and her eyes were a deep dark…. red? But that slight detail didn't matter. Because in that moment the fact that all she was wearing was a blue towel had no effect, not even the wet droplets of shower water on her skin stood out in a way another man would notice.

I sat there in the tree, and the ground disappeared, the tree fell from underneath me, and the house was thin air. Nothing in the world was real but her, and I knew it would physically pain me to move away from this spot where I could see her. This was my sole reason for existing. She was everything, she was mine. I had been a wolf for almost twenty years and in no part of that life could have prepared me for the moment when I would imprint.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

From the POV of Artemis Whitlock- Brandon

"Artemis!" Charlie called from downstairs. I stood still.

"One minute gramps." I called. He always made a face when I said that. But I think deep down he liked it. I quickly towel dried my hair and threw sweat pants on. I stopped at the steps and called down.

"What's up?"

"You wanna watch the game with me? Renee told me how much you like baseball." I trotted down the steps to see what was on. The Rangers against the SF Giants. I knew some of the players of the Giants through Phil. He played for them for about 3 years before getting traded to the Yankees. When I was about 10 we moved to New York.

"Growing up with Phil, I never really had a choice." I smiled.

"True." He said. In New York everyone was a talker. Not here. Grandpa Charlie was a man of few words and I didn't mind much. And he didn't pry into my business too much either. If I wanted to take a long walk or just drive around town sit in my room for a day, he let me be. Renee fussed over me a bit, I think she was just making up for her lax parenting with my mother.

After 19 years of life there are still some lingering questions about my lineage that still haven't been answered and after my rebellious teen years and fights over the phone with Charlie and Rene I decided that in time I would be able to go out and get answers for myself. So far all I knew was that my mother Bella had died after I was born and that my last name was Brandon- Whitlock even though no family member I had ever met had that last name. My father, well that was still a mystery. Part of the reason I decided to take this summer away from New York was to figure a lot of this out. It was the first time I had ever come to Forks, Charlie had always flown out to see me wherever we were.

"Ill be right back, I need to get something out of the car." I rented a Jeep, Phil was paying for it mostly though I had a ton of cash saved up from giving cello lessons. Having a name like Julliard on your resume really allowed you to hike the rate per hour. Those big shots on Park Avenue wanted their brats learning from the best. And that's what I was. I was accepted when I was 16, got my GED and was able to move out of my grandparents house a little over a year and half ago.

In the Jeep were a pack of Camel Blue's and my silver lighter. Charlie didn't know that I smoked so I decided to move to the side of the house and open a bottle of water from the trunk to put out in. It was pretty dark and the flame from my lighter was pretty bright. I looked down at my untied Converse sneakers. And then I smelled something very musky in the air like wood and cinnamon. It was nice in weird way.

And then I heard a growl. I put out my cig and stayed still. Behind the trees the were the sound of motion and then it stopped. I decided to walk slowly back inside and kept my eyes on the trees. A great thing about city living is the only wild animals that can attack you are the crazy squirrels in the park, and the occasional ferret on a leash. When I got inside Charlie was onto his next beer. I walked two steps and there was a knock on the door.

"Was there someone outside?" Charlie asked as he got up.

"I thought I heard something but, no." I beat him to the door just in case their was a bear with manners standing there, but instead there was a huge tall native American looking guy in his late thirties standing there with a strange angry look on his face.

"Sam…?" Charlie whispered as his image came through on the window. "Artemis, can you go upstairs for a minute."

I didn't argue but I didn't exactly comply. I skipped up the stairs closed the door to my room but stood behind the wall the staircase as Charlie opened the door.

"Sam." Charlie said sternly. "What can I do for you at this…. late hour?"

"Can I come in?" Sam asked but it really didn't sound like a question.

"Go see Billy if you have any questions I've already explained everything to him." Was Charlie's response.

"Maybe that's so, but have the rules been explained?" Sam asked this time. _What the hell? Rules? _

"Like I said I think you should go talk to Billy-"

"Half or whole it doesn't matter." Sam said. "It must know the rules of our treaty, no Cullen-"

"Now you listen to me! _She _has nothing to do with whatever you are talking about. Now you can go talk to Billy Black and get off my front porch before I arrest you for trespassing."

And without a word Charlie closed the door in his face. I quietly slipped into my room, and put my headphones on. I could hear Charlie's footsteps through the bass of the song and I quickly jotted some things down in my notebook.

I closed my book as he opened the door.

"Who was that?" I asked pulling my buds out.

"Someone over from the reservation, was checking in about that boy I picked up on the main road. Gotta keep some case stuff confidential ya know."

"Oh, the streaking kid." I half laughed.

"Yeah," he smiled. "You still wanna watch the game?"

"I think I'm gonna just read and knock out…. K gramps?" I smiled.

"K, kiddo." He smirked, and closed the door.

I opened my laptop and looked down at my notes. I had scribbled two things, Cullen and Billy Black. I did the first search for Cullen and Forks, I got one hit about a doctor that worked at the hospital about twenty years ago, but no picture. Dr. Carlisle Cullen, that was it. Then I did a search for Billy Black and nothing popped up. I knew there was an Indian reservation in the area but forgot what it was called so I Googled that and I started reading about the history of the LaPush Quileute tribe and their legends. Then I saw a name Ephraim Black. Whoever this Billy was might be a descendant, but that still told me nothing. I could probably get some cheap packs over there, and do some snooping. Maybe find this Sam fellow and call _him _an "it."

They were definitely talking about me down there, and it didn't shock me that Charlie kicked him out right away. They always kept things about my mom the time she died and especially my father a secret. For some reason I felt like this Sam guy knew something and I wanted to find out what it was. I got a map of the area out and looked at the route to LaPush. Maybe tomorrow would be that day I would finally get an answer.

The next morning I got dressed in my black silk harem pants wedge sneakers and a white crop top with a scoop neckline. Charlie still hadn't cleared Bella's stuff out, there were some pretty basic clothes here, not exactly a fashionista. I pulled my hair up in a neat top not and came down the stairs. I made my way for the front door, but Charlie popped up.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?" This was kind of out of character. I'd been here for a week and I'd seen a bunch of trees the space needle and an empty dinner. I mostly just played the cello upstairs or read books, still Charlie never asked where I was going.

"I'm gonna check out the library." I said frankly.

"There are some great bookstores, in Portland you should check out."

"Eh, I'm not much up for the drive, I'm a city girl, too bad you guys don't have a train."

"Okay, um…. Just so you know, the people in this town they like to talk, best just… keep to yourself, and uh….do you have a longer shirt?" He said squinting.

"Ill be home by six most likely." Was my response. "I'll text you." And with that I hopped outside.

I felt bad for blowing him off, but my outfit choice was something I didn't want to argue with Charlie about, seeing that he really isn't the biggest parent figure that I've had, and that I'm 19 years old and I pay my own rent. Still I hit the gas on the way to the reservation hoping to run into Sam Dances With Wolves.

POV of Aaron Redtree

"Artemis!" I heard Charlie's voice call from downstairs.

_Artemis. _The name rung in my head for about an hour, or maybe it was 30 seconds. I hoped down of the tree to get a closer look downstairs. Then I heard the running beat of wolf paws coming in from behind me and Sam's scent closed in. I changed form and met him about 50 feet from the house

…._Sam, I …. _

But the rush of thoughts of the past five minutes beat me too my explanation.

…_.you've imprinted?...It's a Cu-…._

But then Sam changed to his human form.

"Aaron as pack master I command you to stay away from that house!" Sam whispered.

"How could you ask that of me! You know I've imprinted."

"I don't know how that's possible." Sam shook his head.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I started shouting.

"Keep your voice down!" We stopped as she came through the front door and opened the passenger door to a Jeep parked out front.

"I command you to return to LaPush- NOW." Sam ordered. My chest began to wrench and my knees felt like locking. Two supernatural forces were pulling me in two directions and I didn't know which would win. He ordered me to stay away from the house, but not her. I changed into wolf form and growled as I ran into the woods. I would return to LaPush but turn right around and stay as near as "away from the house" would let me. The last glimpse I got was of Artemis on the front porch slowly walking into the front door.

Two hours later I was back. I could see the house though I was far off, and in wolf form. To see the small light coming from downstairs in was enough to know she was there in my line of sight. I slept on the ground that night and thought of little else but that face with the reddish brown eyes and the black straight hair, skin smooth and pale but similar to the complexion of a Quileute.

And in my drunken loved haze I hadn't even thought about why Sam had ordered me away. Why would a pack master do that? What was it about Charlie Swan that Sam didn't want me to know?

In the morning I awoke and waited. I went a little closer and heard Charlie speaking to her. Then she was hoping down the front steps and into the black Jeep heading north. I ran with her for about 20 minutes until I realized she was headed towards LaPush. Why was she going there? And where was Sam last night?

There were too many questions floating around in my mind, and all I could do was run along the road and listen for the cars engine that told me where she was. At the entrance to the res she stopped and pulled out a map. I thought of approaching her then, but in human form, I would be naked. So I double teamed it to the house on the beach, threw some clothes on and got into Embry's car. I drove up the town's main road looking for her car but I couldn't find it anywhere. I sped all the way to the entrance to see if she was still stopped, and that's when I saw them.

Sam and Paul where standing at the entrance stock still, she was out of the car starring them down just as harshly.

"I'm here to see Billy Black." She said in a cute voice that didn't match her epic "if looks could kill" eyes.

"Sorry, no such person." Sam said shaking his head. "I think you should leave now." He looked at her confused and worried, but still his same old commanding self. I popped out of the car and ran over.

"I'll take you to see Billy," I smiled as I reached the stare down.

"What do you guys run a basketball camp over here?" She said sizing me up. We all stood around seven feet in our pack. I was the second tallest after Quil. "Thanks, who are you?" She asked coming over. But Paul blocked her way.

"You're kind is not welcome here." He said.

"Really? You're racists?" She raised her eyebrows with the attitude of a movie star. "Listen I won't tell the kids about Pocahontas falling in love with a white man if you just let me talk to this Billy guy okay." I couldn't help but to laugh.

"He's down by the lake fishing I'll show you." I said moving closer to her. The hairs on the back of my head began to stand up with excitement and a twinge of fear. I got close enough to take in her scent. It was muddled sweet smell of honey and clove but also something more sweet something that burned a bit. The closest thing I could think of was-

Vampire.

I stood stock still. And stared.

"What?" She asked.

"Do you smell that, brother?" Sam asked mocking me. There was a little bit of pity in his voice though. I was scared. But I knew this girl required more investigation before I could give up on her, I was already in love.

"Smell what?" She asked annoyed now. " You gonna take me to see this guy or what."

"Come on we're going." I led her to her car. "Can I get in?"

She looked me over quickly. "Sure, why not." She shot a snarky look at Sam and Paul and turned down the road where I pointed.

"I'm Aaron." I said.

"Artemis." She responded.

"The lake's just another ten minutes down this road." I added.

"Thanks….so those guys…are you're brothers?"

"Ha! No we grew up together, sorry about them. They are kinda like the neighborhood watch except more extreme. "

"No joke, I thought I was going to get my passport stamped to come in." she smiled. "So you know this Billy guy?"

"Yeah he's an elder. He knows a lot about our people's history. Is that why you came to LaPush?"

"No. Well, it's more about my history than anything, my mom was from Forks but my grandfather Charlie doesn't like to talk about her much."

"You think Billy will know something?"

"Maybe."

We pulled up to the banks of the river and saw Billy pulling in. Around the time I had joined the pack Billy got this fancy boat that he could load his wheelchair into for fishing. Said it was a present from an old friend. But whoever this millionaire friend was Billy never shared that with the class.

I ran over to help him pull onto the ramp by the dock.

"I thought, Embry was picking me up." Billy said.

"Oh, hey he probably is, um, Billy there's some one here to see you." Billy picked up his head and saw Artemis coming down the path.

"My God." He whispered.

"I know." I smiled. But I don't think Billy was thinking look at that smoking hot fox coming our way. He was in actual shock.

"Hi, are you Billy Black?" She leaned over and smiled at him with her hand out. From my angle I could see a little bit down her shirt.

"Artemis." Bill said and shook her hand.

"So you've heard of me…. You know my grandfather Charlie Swan?"

" I know Charlie for many years. Yes."

"So you knew my mother Bella?" she asked. And then I remembered the article I had read. It didn't mention that the bride was pregnant.

"Aaron, call Embry tell him not to come… I knew Bella. Come on you can drive me home. Does Charlie know you're here?"

"No he doesn't." I helped Billy up the hill and into the back seat and folded up his chair in the back. I think she noticed how easy it was for me to lift him out.

"Aaron you know the way, direct her."

"Are the two bodyguards gonna stop us again?" she asked.

"Sam and Paul can talk to me if they have a problem."

"That seems to be the general consensus. What did you and my father discuss about me by the way?" she asked him looking in her rearview mirror.

Billy was silent.

"Can you at least tell me about my mother?"

"I never met you're mother." Billy said.

"I thought you said you knew her."

"Right here." I chimed in. We pulled into the front of Billy's house and helped him out. He did say that he knew Bella, and now that I think of it the name sounded familiar from maybe the older members of the pack. I was trying to remember something Embry had said about a girl from Forks and I could see her in his head, but it was different than Artemis. Artemis had a strong body she was tall and she looked like a very light skinned Quileute super model rather than a white girl. There was still the smell of vampire on her though and it hadn't faded.

When we got in the house Billy put a pot of tea on the stove. I sat next to Artemis, maybe a little too close for people who just met but she didn't move over so I stayed put trying to breathe in that honey clove smell.

"So you were saying…?" She asked a little business like.

"Tell me Ari, how's Rene?"

"She's fine, Charlie doesn't call me that. How do you know it?"

"The last time I saw you, you were a baby, that's what they called you. Ari."

"And the they that was present was…?" She asked impatiently.

"I know you came here looking for answers but I'm afraid I'm not the one who can give them to you. "

"So you used me for a free ride?" she smirked.

"Yup, sure." said Billy. " I have my reasons. I want you to go see my daughter Rachel."

Billy and Rachel didn't really talk too much. There were some mixed feeling's about Jacobs disappearance that the tribe knew was causing the relationship to suffer. Paul would tell us all the time how she blamed her father and the pack for Jacob's absence. But "rules were rules" and the safety of our people came first.

"Are you sure, Paul might be there." I said.

"It's alright…. Do they know?" Billy asked. And I knew he was referring to me imprinting.

"Eh yeah Sam was there kind of after." I shrugged. Billy whistled.

"Okay you kids get to know each other on the way." And he rolled into the living room and turned the TV on.

"What a weird old man." She said turning to me.

"Let's go." I said. I grabbed her hand and led her to the door. I held it for a moment longer than was necessary and we got in the car.

"So I guess we are seeing this Rachel and she's married to one of the bodyguards?"

"Yup! It's about twenty minutes from here."

"Okay."

We drove out of Billy's lot and kept on the main road through town. It was about noon now and I was getting hungry. Rachel was a wolf woman so she always had tons of food in the house. Ari was kinda skinny even though she had muscle and a chest. Her eyes looked like she hadn't slept in a few weeks and there was this weird reddish swirl in them.

My heart began to race. I had never looked a vampire in the eyes before but I knew the yellow ones meant they were animal drinkers and the red ones were human. Still, Paul and Sam couldn't keep her off the reservation or attack her in wolf form so there was a debate going on. Plus her mother was a human and I could still hear her pulse so I had nothing to worry about… right?

"So when did you get to Forks?" I asked. I hadn't realized it but I was starring right at her. She seemed to notice though.

"About a week ago. It's my first time."

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"Well I was born in Alaska actually, but when my mom died I went to live with my grandmother in Florida we moved to San Fran after that but I've been in New York now for ten years….. so a lot of places."

"New York huh….." I never met anyone from there before.

"Yeah it's nice, it's a lot different from here" She said widening her eyes.

"I can imagine." I smiled. "Why'd you move there?"

"Rene, my grandmother she married a pro ball player he signed a deal with the Yankees towards the end of his career."

" Wow… sounds legit." I was watching her lips caress every word with her sweet voice. Her little gold hoop earings danced around her lobes as she moved her head. "Do you go to college over there too?"

"Yeah but not exactly, I'm a professional cello player, I went to a conservatory when I was sixteen, I have a year left. I play with all the orchestras though and give lessons." She talked about her life as if it was something exciting she read about.

"How bout you? You grew up here I'm guessing."

"Yeah I mean people from the Quileute tribe really stick together and we have our old ways and customs that we still follow."

"Like no white people on Tuesdays." She turned to look at me for the first time. I laughed and tried to hold her gaze but she turned her head to the road.

"Nah I think it's a misunderstanding, just stick with me, and you should be fine." I smiled and put my hand on her headrest.

"Oh yeah?" She said slyly. "Ok El Capitan where do I go from here?" We had come to the hill before Rachel's house.

"Take this path on the left." She turned the car ad came to the hairpin turn that most people freak out on. She turned the car magnificently without even slowing down that much.

"I drive in Manhattan. The woods ain't got nothing on me." She smiled wildly and accelerated up the hill. She rocked the Jeep up to the front of Rachel and Paul's house. Paul came stomping out in boots and jeans bare chested looking furious.

"Really Aaron? Where my children live?"

"Billy said she should see Rachel."

"I don't care what Billy's says!" he shouted.

I could feel Ari a few feet behind me. I thought Paul was going to shift in that moment the way he was looking at her.

"Look Paul did Sam tell you-"

"Yes, and I understand, I went through it too but…. We can't be sure yet."

"Did I do something wrong?" Ari asked a little confused. I turned to her and put my hands on her shoulders. "No, you're fine don't worry nothing is going to happen, like I said it's just a misunderstanding." She looked up at me not moving but with this strange wonder her red tea eyes.

Just then a car pulled up and Rachel came out with their teenage son Curtis.

"What happened?" Paul asked her. "Never mind Curt get inside now." Paul commanded.

"Maybe we should go?" Ari said.

"Who is this, Aaron?" Rachel asked. She stepped a little closer and then her whole face fell, and then lit up. And she ran over and threw her arms around her.

"Ari! I'm so glad to see you, you're all grown up!... wow." Ari looked at me from over Rachel's shoulder baffled by her reaction.

"Rachel! What are you doing?!" Paul yelled.

"Kind of a mixed crowd over here." Ari said to me as Rachel let her go.

"Wow you look like him a little." Rachel said two inches from her face. I got a little jealous for a second.

"Like who?" Ari asked.

"Rachel!" Paul was getting furious. We all stopped and then I realized what was going on. I saw it now in her. She looked somewhat Quileute because she was. Her father was Jacob Black, which made Rachel…

"Come inside and let Auntie Rachel make you some lunch." And with that she whisked her up the wooden plank stairs and into the house past Paul. For a moment I heard her whisper _Aunt Rachel? _Paul ran in behind them and I was on his heels.

"Why isn't Curt in school?" he asked.

"He hasn't been feeling well and he called from the office about an hour after I dropped him off. I think he should rest for a few days….So tell me Ari when did you get into town?"

"About a week ago. I'm just taking some time off from work… um… are we related somehow?" Ari asked sitting on a bar stool as Rachel started pulling some things out of the fridge.

"Rachel can I talk to you for a minute?" Paul took his wife by the hand and led her to a room down the hall. As a wolf I could hear practically everything they were saying but I couldn't focus now that we were in the room alone together.

"I can't get a straight answer out of anyone over here." Ari sighed. "….Do you know what's going on?"

I walked around the bar to where she was sitting and leaned up against it next to her. " Well there's a lot of things that…. I mean, we have these rules here that surround our way of life. It's kind of like if someone high enough up says you can't do something or tell someone something then, you literally can't… I mean…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard all about your dumb rules. Listen, there's some things about me that I can't explain either, and believe me if I told you you'd think I'd need to sleep in a padded room tonight, but I need to figure this out. How would you feel if everyone in your life kept the truth from you? And you had one unique opportunity to figure things out for yourself?"

"What kind of things?"

"What?"

"You said there are some things about you that you can't explain."

"Hey, it's like pulling teeth to get a response around here, if you think I'm gonna tell you off the bat what my deal is, you got another thing coming."

"I – got – another- thing- coming." I repeated.

"Yeah." She said with a nod of her head.

"I like the way you talk." I said moving my face in closer.

"Well I can walk the walk to, so you better check your distance."

"That's cute." I mocked her a little bit. She couldn't help but to grin and cock her head away from me.

And then we heard a crash and a growl from the back of the house. Out of the kitchen window I saw a black wolf running into the woods and Paul running after it and shifting. Ari was facing down the hall and saw Rachel emerge.

"Rachel …. Curt?"

"Yes." She said with a solemn look.

"What was that?" Ari asked.

"I think we should go." I said taking Ari's hand and practically dragging her to the door.

"Can someone please tell me, what the hell is going on!" Ari was getting frustrated.

"You can't come back to LaPush. I'll come by Charlie's tonight." said Rachel. And with that I took her way from the house. I drove past Billy's and all the way to the reservation boundary before he asked me to stop the car.

"Um.. can you pull over here." She said. I pulled up to the side of the road and turned the engine off. She turned her head to look right at me. We said nothing for about thirty seconds.

"I sleep for maybe two or three hours a night, the only thing I can stomach as food is really rare steak, I looked exactly like this when I was fourteen and haven't changed since, I never get scars or bruises and sometimes when I stand really close to people I can feel what they are thinking. And I can…. Make things happen when I try, I really don't want to explain that but, you see. I'm either some government freak test experiment or I've inherited some weird genetic defect, all I know is Charlie and Rene have kept everything from me for a reason, and I think it's because they have no clue how to explain these things themselves. So if you can help me with Rachel and Billy and figuring this all out, I would really appreciate that…..If you can focus hard enough and stop _looking at me like that._"

I hadn't realized that I was starring at her hard core. All those things she said made sense to me. She was half wolf if she was Jacob's daughter, which explained the fast healing, and the animal instincts she might have. The sleep thing and the rare stake thing scared me though. If she was Jacob's than how come she had vampire in her? If Bella was her mother and she were human then how could it be that Ari had vampire qualities in her?

"Ok."

"Ok…?"

"I'll help you."

"…and the other stuff?" She raised her left eyebrow. " You think I'm crazy?"

"No… I don't , there are a lot of things I can't explain either, but we can try to figure it out. Paul and Sam and our 'neighborhood watch' we're having some problems with our… history as well. Maybe you can help me too."

"Alright." She nodded. "So where do we start."

"Well we gotta talk to someone who knew you're mom that's not on the reservation, and that isn't friend with Charlie."

"Right, well she went to Forks High, so maybe we should start there." She said.

"I know how to get there, you wanna drive?"

"No it's fine you can."

We got to Forks High school around 1:30 PM and parked in the lot. There was a building that had a sign to the main office and we walked in. There were some older women there and a woman in around her forties at the front desk. Ari walked right up to them and smiled magnificently.

"Hi I was wondering if you had some yearbooks from quite a while ago, you see my mom went here and I don't have any pictures of her." She was smiling the whole time and it was a pretty brilliant way of finding out who in town might have known Bella, I hadn't thought of it, actually I didn't really have a plan walking in.

"When did she graduate?" asked the woman, whose name plaque said Jessica Newton.

"Um, it was about twenty one years ago, I'm not sure actually, her name was Bella Swan.

"Bella Swan is you mother?" Ms. Newton asked excitedly.

"Yeah."

"Bella Swan, as in Bella Cullen? I didn't know she had-."

"…you knew her?"

"We were in the same class. I'm sorry, her passing was a shock and poor Edward."

"Edward Cullen." Ari muttered. There was a look on her face like we was in a different realm.

" You're dad's family hasn't been in town for years, how are Alice and Jasper, and it's Rosalie and Emmett right?"

"…yes, …they're fine." Ari said slowly. She had no clue what Ms. Newton was talking about. "Is there a yearbook?"

"Yes but it's the office copy." She walked to a closet shelf in the back and bent down to the bottom row. She pulled out a thick yellow book and walked back to us.

"It's great to meet you, Bella and I we were friends. Let me know if you have any questions."

"Thank you." Ari walked with the book over to an empty table and started flipping through.

I didn't know that the Cullen's went to high school in Forks or that they could be allowed around a school full of children.

She found Bella's yearbook photo. Looked at it quickly and immediately searched for Edward Cullen. There was no photo. She flipped to the end and among the names of graduates without pictures were Edward Cullen and Alice Cullen. She took a picture of the names. Then she started flipping through some candid shots of that graduating class. She was almost through all of them when she got to a photo taken in the cafeteria of three people. The one on the right was Bella Swan, but the other two where a very attractive and pale boy and girl. The caption below read _Alice Cullen, Edward Cullen, and Bella Swan. _

The girl had short black spiky hair and she looked like a little fairy. The boy was tall with auburn messy hair and looks for a Calvin Klein underwear box, typical vampires. But one thing stood out, he and Ari had the same lips and jaw structure and Ari definitely had Bella's eyes. She took a picture with her phone of that photo as well. There weren't any other photos of them in the entire book.

She walked over to the counter and thanked Jessica.

"Thank you, um… my _dads _house. Did you ever visit it with my mom?"

"Oh yes, I went to the graduation party Alice threw and the wedding of course."

"The wedding." Ari said.

"Yes it was beautiful, I think…." She paused. "Is your father back?"

"No, I was supposed to go check on the place, but you know they're in Europe and I forgot where I wrote the address down." She laughed and coolly lied to her. "But thanks for letting me see the book." She turned away and looked at me and winked. We were two steps from the door when she called us back.

"Wait I must have the address in the directory." She began typing away, took a Post-It wrote in down and handed it to Ari. "My husband and I must take you to lunch one day! How long are you in town. Are you staying with Officer Swan?"

"Just a few weeks. And yes I'm at Charlie's. Thank you."

"That was impressive." I said when we were on the road in the car. But she had this weird look on her face.

"Sam came to my house last night." She said.

"What?"

"Yeah, Charlie wouldn't let him in, but I heard him mention the Cullens."

"If Edward Cullen is your father…let's just say that family was banned from the reservation because of their…. ah, hunting habits, and Sam well he's pretty old school with the rules I guess."

"Rachel too, now."

"Well, I mean some of the kids are getting sick on the reservation so I think you best stay away from there, for you know your health."

"I've never gotten sick before."

"Really?"

"Nope, not even a cough."

"Hm."

"What you don't think that's weird?"

"I mean, maybe you have a good immune system."

"Sure." She said sarcastically.

"You wanna get lunch before we head there?"

"Sure." She said, this time she was serious.


	3. Chapter 3- Key and Conversation

CHAPTER 3 - Key and Conversation

POV Artemis Whitlock

That was it, Edward Cullen had to be my father. Why hadn't Charlie at least told me my parents were married. Why had Billy lied about knowing her as well? Why did I feel so comfortable with Aaron? It was pretty crazy this whole thing. The Quileutes hated my dad's family so by default they hated me? And what the hell did Rachel mean Aunt? Was Bella related to Billy and Rachel somehow- no that's crazy because neither Charlie nor Rene are. I needed to know more. Maybe at the Cullen house I could find something or even, someone.

Aaron pulled up to a nice looking dinner off the road. He hopped around the car so fast I didn't see him and opened the door for me. He was all tall and muscular long ripped arms and under his t shirt you could see the ripples of an 8 pack. His hair was long enough to tie back into a really short ponytail barely and inch long and a lock of straight hair framed the left side of his face. His eyes were black.

But the way he stared at me was something else, it was like he was waiting for me to ask him for something, he was really attentive and sort of moved around me in possessive way. I was too distracted by my purpose to wonder why he had shown up at the LaPush boundary anyway.

In the diner we were seated in the corner booth away from the other customers. A few women in their twenties took a good look at Aaron, it bothered me a little bit, but he didn't seem to notice them. He sat across from me looking out the window to the parking lot and I faced the rest of the place. The waitress came over with two water glasses, and menus under her arms.

"Can I get you anything else to drink?" she asked.

"No thank you." I said.

"Coffee, please." Aaron said, not looking away from me. I didn't look at the menu. I would just order a rare steak. He didn't browse either.

"So what exactly do you do on the reservation." I asked ripping apart my napkin.

"Um well, Paul, Sam and I and a bunch of guys we sort of, police the LaPush reservation and manage tourists and new people in the area. A while ago there was a fund set up for the Reservation from an anonymous donor, any man who becomes a…sort of "ranger" if you will, is pretty much set for life. The fund has also generated a lot of money for the tribe, most of the kids over the past years have decided to become lawyers to sort of change the way the government handles native peoples."

"I see. I bet the guys are lining up to become a part of this patrol." I asked, prying for a little more info.

"Um well, you can't really sign up, you have to be chosen, kind of, it's a little bit of tradition, a little bit of…..genetics." he said. Sounded like he was skating around some truth about what they really did.

"Okay." I said squinting a little at him. The waitress came over with his coffee.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Go ahead." I said to him.

"Ah, I'll have two cheeseburgers with fries, a chocolate shake, a side of green beans, two blueberry muffins and apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream." She took the order down and smirked.

"You want a _slice_ of pie or the whole thing?" I teased. He cocked his head at me and smiled.

"And for you." The waitress asked.

"I'll have a steak just seared on both sides. Rare please."

"Any sides?"

"No thank you."

"Anything to drink?"

"Water's fine." I smiled. And she hopped away.

"So you really only like rare steak?" he asked.

"Everything else feels like heavy rocks in my stomach, and I get really thirsty if I don't have it for some reason." I explained. He looked at me a little worried for a second but then looked away. "I cook other food though."

"You can cook?" He said excitedly.

"Yeah, we lived in Little Italy for a year when I was back in New York. And we had this newly married couple from this small town outside of Rome, they never told me where, anyway, Loretta and Giacomo, they taught me all kinds of dishes and ways to prepare food. It was a fun past time."

"That's pretty cool, I like to eat." He smiled.

"Apparently."

"We wol- LaPush men have big appetites. "

"Is that how you got so big?"

"Ha! It's a special genetic trait, little one."

"Hey, 5'8'' is pretty tall for a girl. I towered over everyone in school until I went to Julliard."

"Julliard?"

"It's a music conservatory in Manhattan at Lincoln Center."

"Oh."

"It's not that great, it's kind of a hoax the whole classical music world, there aren't enough chairs in an orchestra, and you're competing with the professors for the same jobs. It's ridiculous. I do a lot of pop recordings around the city though."

"When did you start playing?"

"When I was ten, Rene wanted to try something new, and it was classical music, I turned out to be a prodigy, then we moved to New York, six years later I went pro. But I can't focus on all that now ever since things started to change for me….physically and in other ways…." I was rambling now, telling him too much. "When did you join Paul and Sam's little group, anyway?"

"When I was fifteen."

"Really? Isn't that kind of young to be a protector of the people?"

"We hit puberty early I guess."

"How long have you been with them?"

"I'm 28." He said frankly, but there was something in it that sounded false. He looked it though, so I didn't question him.

"Is it dangerous?" I asked. For a moment I became nervous thinking that Aaron could get hurt on the job, whatever the job meant.

"Sometimes, if there are certain trespassers it could get violent."

"How do they enforce it, I mean it's not like Paul and Sam showed me a badge."

"Oh we have our ways." He smiled his perfect smile.

"Ok then so the Cullen family which I am most likely related to, did it get violent with them?"

"I mean they lived in the town for a couple of years and then they left. There were rumors of an altercation but that was during Sam and Paul's time and they do a good job of not talking about it, it was kind of covered up."

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"No but one of our own, he disappeared. At first there were two other members of our guard who went with him but after a while they split up, the other two were brother and sister, I think they moved south together, but Jacob never turned up."

"What do you think happened to him?"

"I don't know, but he knew your mom, I saw a … picture of them together. He was Billy's son."

"Wait, he knew Bella? And he was Billy son…?"

"Yeah there was a time where Bella was down at the res almost everyday."

'…..well of course if Charlie and Billy were friends…but that would make him Rachel's brother right?" I paused. "And if Rachel's my _aunt_…that could mean Jacob's _my father?_ But my mom married Edward Cullen."

At that moment the waitress came with our food.

"You want that apple pie and muffins now or later?" she asked him.

"Later." He said. And we starred stock still at each other. I began to cut my steak and think. Nothing seemed certain at this point. The way Billy and Rachel acted and the things that Jessica woman said at Forks High, they didn't add up. I had to admit I looked more like Edward and Rachel than anything else but that was even more far off than my previous hypothesis. No Bella was my mom for sure, I had her eye shape that was just like Charlie's. We ate quickly and when our plates where done the waitress came over and served desert. I sipped at my water while he effortlessly devoured everything in two minutes. The forks looked small in his hands, and when I thought about it I had to laugh.

"What?" he asked sliding his plates over.

"Nothing, it's just," I took the fork, " it looks so small in your hands."

He took my right hand and pressed his fingers against mine in comparison. Mine were practically half the width of his and my whole hand could fit in his palm. He was also extremely warm, I noticed this before when he pulled me out of Rachel's house.

The waitress brought over the check and I moved away from him.

"I got this." He said.

" You sure I really didn't get –" I started, but he waved his hand and slipped fifty bucks into the bill. We got up and walked to the front, he handed the waitress the bill."

"No change." He told her. As we proceeded to the door a group of kids came bursting through and Aaron stepped in front to block them from running into me. We were almost chest to chest and I was close enough to breathe him in, he was warm and musky, like cinnamon and some other woody quality. It was familiar and nice, but I couldn't exactly place it. I kept my head down and my face turned away, I was too embarrassed to let him see my face as I took in his scent.

As the kids passed he let me lead he way out and we got back into the car. I let him drive, I was so tired of driving around here. I didn't feel excited on my way to the Cullen house, I wasn't nervous, or anything like that. This was a new lead something I had never heard about before today and maybe because I had no expectations it wouldn't be disappointing. I always thought of my mother maybe getting knocked up by someone random she met and then when she went away on vacation she got sick. Rene was watching me, they wouldn't allow her body back into the states because she had a rare disease so she was buried in Brazil. But if there was hope to connect with my dad, if he was alive, that would be something for me at least.

"What are you thinking about?" Aaron broke the silence.

"I'm just confused…about the way Rachel talked to me and about what the secretary at the school said. It doesn't add up."

"Maybe… I know it sucks but, I don't know, maybe you're mom had an affair, it happens all the time." He suggested.

"I look like him." I blurted out. "I mean…"

I opened my phone and looked at the picture I took from the yearbook on my phone. I had the same lips and face shape as Edward Cullen.

"You kinda look like both of them."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well I remember Jacob enough. You could be his as easily."

"Come on you were just a kid, you don't have to make me feel better about it, it's a pretty confusing situation."

He sighed. There wasn't much for us to say. It was strange that I had just met him this morning and he had taken so much interest in helping me. The road started to narrow and surprisingly my heart started to race a bit. It sounded loud to me.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"No." I shrugged coolly. But he didn't buy it. I was about to say something when the house came into view. It was in a large clearing and it was big. There were glass windows all around and the front was made of pine wood. We pulled up out front in a dirt patch and I popped out before he could come around. Something about this place was eerily familiar. I walked around back to the side door steps, which for some reason I knew where there even though I couldn't see them from the front.

I tried the handle, and the door was unlocked.

"Come on." I turned around and Aaron was there.

"Shouldn't we ring the bell or something?" he asked. He looked a little frightened but also like he was on his guard.

"I don't think anyone's been here for a while." I said stepping in. The entrance led to the front of a short staircase, everything inside was white and there was furniture covered in white blankets. Behind me Aaron started coughing a little and covered him mouth.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, it just smells a little weird in here." He scrunched up his nose when he said this. I didn't smell anything though. In fact it smelled kinda nice for an abandoned house.

I started towards an open wide living room where there were some couches and a TV set covered. I could tell the TV looked pretty dated, from about 20 years ago at least it was around half an inch thick and still had one of those stick bases. Across the way there was a slight platform in the flooring where a grand piano was covered and about twenty feet behind that was an opening to a kitchen area. When we came closer to it Aaron started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing it's just... nothing never mind, you wanna check out the upstairs, I think you're right no one's here."

"Okay."

We went back to where the steps where and trotted on up, there were some room with minimal furniture but no bedrooms. We went up one more level, and eventually found a room with a canopy bed and a lot books and audio CD's in the shelf. There was even a CD player built in as well. I pulled open the drawer to a desk but there weren't any papers in side. Under the bed- nothing. I walked out a little frustrated and noticed something on the ceiling at the end of the hall. I walked down to get a closer look, and then I stopped. It was a thick wooden cross, carved and hung over the threshold to another door.

And then it happened, those strange times when I can't explain what I've done or wished or saw in my head but the cross came down right into my hands and placed right at the top in a carved out nook was a key.

Aaron was behind me now.

"Whad'ya break, now." he said as if he expected me to do something like that all along. He looked down at my hands and saw the key.

"Hm." He smirked. And then the door ahead popped open. We looked at each other let out a breath and walked in.

The room was unlike every other one in the house. It was a high ceiling study filled with books from floor to ceiling, a flourished carved mahogany desk and a delicate woven carpet. It was like something born out of the Renaissance. Nothing was covered here except for a painting that hung on the wall. Aaron looked at me as if waiting for my approval, so I nodded, and he grabbed the white drape and pulled it to the floor.

The painting was unreal. Three men in cloaks, in a medieval setting all staring down at us pale faced and brilliant with these eyes, eyes that were like mine. Except their eyes were completely red.

"I've seen better work." Aaron said nonchalantly looking back at me. I chuckled. "I wonder where that key fits in?"

He took it from my hand and walked over to the desk trying to fit it into every drawer. But I couldn't take my eyes off the painting. There was something different about these men with the red eyes. They looked down at me as if to say, 'We know who you truly are.'

"Aaron." I said.

"What's up?"

"Don't you think it's weird how…everything else in the house is covered, but in this room, the only thing was this painting."

He walked over to me with the key in his hand.

"I guess. I didn't eve realize that."

"It's almost as if whoever left last wanted you to look right at it." I said. I looked at it more closely to see if there was anything significant or hidden, and then I saw it. In the gold painted frame was a little space shaped like a key hole. I took the key from him and walked over to the painting. I stuck the key in and with a snap the whole frame pivoted forward an inch like a door.

"Shit." Aaron said from behind.

"I know." I agreed. We pulled the painting back to find a five by five foot space in the wall with a wooden crate placed neatly in the center. Aaron hopped up and pulled it out onto the floor. We looked at each other again and slid the top off.

Inside where files upon files of different documents. We sat on the floor and began pulling them out.

"They're ordered by year starting in the early 1900's." I said.

"Must be an old family." He replied.

I opened the first file it was dated 1920. There were three IDs in there and an old document hand printed with black and white photos. One was for a Carlisle Cullen, the other was for Rosalie Hale, and the third was…

"Edward Cullen?" I said in shock. "These must be like, fake novelty ID's. What's in those?"

"Hm it says 1964, there's seven ID's in here registered in the state of Alaska in a town called…"

"Kaktovik?"

"Yeah how'd you know."

"That's the town I was born in. It's on the northern shore of the state."

"Damn." He remarked.

"Why would a family have all these fake ID's and passports and documents from all these different years? And look, these are all house deeds. A house in Texas, Kaktovik, Forks, Connecticut, Rio, Vancouver, North Dakota – this one's from sixteen years ago."

"The names are different too." He added. " Look this one's from the 30's it says Mary Alice Brandon, and this one says Alice Cullen. These say Jasper Hale and Jasper Whitlock-"

I snatched them from his hands. On the documents where the same people, woman and man respectfully with the two different names.

"Aaron my last name is Brandon-Whitlock."

"What, why?... Holy shit."

"This is getting too crazy." Then I saw his eyes zoom in on an old passport by my knee. He opened it and his eyes widened.

"I think it just got crazier." He handed me the passport. "That's Jacob Black."

I looked into the face of the Quileute man in the photo. The black hair the long nose the cheekbones. The name was something generic made up but it was him if Aaron said so.

"Why would a coven have this." He whispered.

"_Cullen_." I corrected.

"Yeah Cullen, right." He took the photo from me and looked at it again and shook his head like he was disappointed.

"I think this makes sense now." I said.

"You're making sense out of this?"

"Well, look, this proves that somehow Jacob Black was involved with this family. Now if Bella knew Jacob and she married Edward that all ties that first hypothesis in. How I got the last name of what looks like two of Edward Cullen's adopted siblings who from that file got married four times in the span of 100 years, is a mystery for another day. Now… this deed is for a house in North Dakota that was purchased sixteen years ago when I was four."

"So?" he asked confused.

" If my mom died in Brazil shortly after my first birthday, then how did she sign a deed for a house, when I was three." And then I turned the paper to him and showed him the perfect curled script that read

Isabella Cullen & Edward Cullen

"If my mom was alive at that time she was at this address in North Dakota. And that's where I'm going."

I got up and made my way towards the door.

"Wait, you gotta, you gotta think this through. You're gonna go all the way to North Dakota because there's a house there with your mom's name on it?"

"Yes." I said sternly.

"Okay well, what about Charlie, you're just gonna leave him here?"

"I mean I'm gonna be back…. I think, who knows what I'll find."

"Exactly! Ari listen, wait a few days maybe we can find out more from someone in town. Maybe they have some facts that can start us somewhere that's a lot more recent than sixteen years ago. Let's just…."

"Okay okay, don't freak out." I walked over to him. "I mean, you're right, thank you for helping me. I gotta get home, Rachel will come over soon."

"Ok, lets go." We waked out of the room not bothering to pack the chest away. I kept the key but popped the wooden cross back in place.

From the POV of Aaron Redtree

I realized I was driving her home without asking for directions. It looked like she suspected me a little bit so I piped up.

"I drove Billy to see Charlie once." I explained.

"Oh, okay."

When we got there Rachel's car was in the driveway and Charlie and her were sitting drinking tea in front of the television.

"Hey." Ari said walking in with me right behind me.

"Ari." Rachel came over and hugged her warmly. "Sorry about today dear."

"No worries." Ari said.

"Um!" Charlie half coughed. "Can I steal my grand daughter in the kitchen for a moment."

"Of course, I actually need to speak with Aaron outside." Rachel grabbed me and led me to the door. As we walked out I heard Charlie 'Since when has the library turned into a day at LaPush?' – 'Realy, gramps?' …

Rachel and I walked ten feet from the house. Before she turned on me.

"Now I swear, I am only telling you this because I need to protect that girl, because she's Jacob daughter, and partly because you've apparently imprinted on her. Okay Aaron, so help me God if you tell a soul, I will personally order Paul to kill you and he will."

"What-the-hell-is-going-on-Rachel?"

"Okay are you ready. Bella and Edward Cullen, the cold one, had a daughter, it's true even though it sounds impossible there seems to be some science behind it. When she was born Jacob was there, and he imprinted on the baby which is even scarier than a vampire and a human actually sleeping with each other. The thing is there seems to be more cases of this half human half vampire scenario, and as a trend they all reach the age of about 20 within two years. Now it gets tricky. Jacob and Nessie, had a child – Artemis. So, what I'm trying to say is, you've imprinted on wolf/vampire/human. And that if she ever comes in contact with the vampire world there could be catastrophic consequences."

I was silent. That was a lot to take in, especially the part about a human and a vampire fucking, and then a wolf imprinting on their half human half vampire baby. It explained everything though.

"Aaron, also there's something else. Artemis isn't like Ness. Ness never needed to drink human blood because of growing up with the Cullen family exclusively feeding from animals. The father, Carlisle was doing some experiments when Ari was a baby and figured out that her body could consume regular food and also feed upon the blood that she was naturally producing. As long as she eats she will produce her own blood to live on. And he explained that because of this her body has only ever been used to human blood. If she were to go hungry some instinct from that _side of the family_ might kick in."

"You're saying she could bite someone?"

"I guess that theory has never been tested. But Aaron, she has to live a normal life she can't go looking for the Cullens if she were to start to find out about that world, even if it's through knowledge of our wolves, it could be dangerous."

"Rachel." I started. " Is Bella still alive?"

"Define alive."

"He turned her, didn't he?"

"Jacob says it's what she wanted."

"How?"

"I don't know they were in love."

"No, how is that something that Jacob _says_?"

"I still, talk to him from time to time. He lives with Nessie now, part of the year away from the rest of them. It's very difficult, she can never come onto the reservation and it's not getting easier for him to be surrounded by eight vampires all the time especially one that used to be his best friend."

"Ari…. It's gonna be hard for me to top her from going after what she wants."

"You have to try for all of us Aaron. I know you love her now and that this is a huge test but, you must keep her away from them at all costs."

"I understand."

"Good."

"Is it safe to say she's why Brandon and Curt have wolfed out?"

"Yes. Paul's mad. Curt is enthralled."

"So she can't come onto the reservation again?"

"It's complicated. She's a descendant of an Alpha no treaty can keep a Quileute of their inherited land and the pack could never attack her, also because of you imprinting. But we don't know how many boys will change. The ones who are old enough probably will. And Seth was 13 when he joined the pack."

"Yeah but there were seven vampires in town, she's just one quarter."

"But she can walk up to their front door step anytime she wants. Which is very different than a coven in Forks."

Just then the door swung open and Ari walked out slowly.

"Aaron." She said. I walked over and stood directly in front of her.

"Tomorrow I am going to North Dakota."

"You shouldn't, you need to stay here."

"Why?"

"Because it's not a good idea to spring up on a family who maybe knows you exist and hasn't reached out to you, or travel all that way to find another big empty house full of boxes with paper."

"I have to try."

"Aaron's right." Rachel said coming onto the front porch. "Ari, Paul and Curt are going on a hunting trip. A few of the women in town are getting together to make a big feast for the summer solstice, come stay over for the next two days and relax and think."

Ari was sitting there thinking for a while with her head down.

"Okay. I'll drive over tomorrow morning."

"Perfect." Rachel smiled and she hugged Ari before walking to her car.

"I think that's you're ride." Ari said pointing to Rachel's car. Rachel waited for me but I didn't plan on leaving.

"Okay I'll see you tomorrow." I leaned over and kissed her cheek. When I pulled away her eyes became a full-blown blood red. It was an interesting reaction to behold. I jumped down the stairs and got into the car with Rachel. About a hundred yards down the road without me having to say anything Rachel stopped and unlocked the passenger door.

I shifted before my feet hit the ground, and behind me I heard the nostalgic chuckle of a woman who had been imprinted on by a wolf.


	4. Chapter 4- Packs

CHPTER 4

Charlie wasn't mad about me going to LaPush, he was just frustrated that Sam and the Quileute patrol men where trying to give him orders to keep me off the land.

"Yeah, gramps, the thing is they have a reason, or at least they think they do."

"What are you talking about?" Charlie said leaning off the counter.

"Oh I don't know maybe it has something to do with my father being Edward Cullen!"

"He's not you're father, and how do you know about him."

"I went to Forks High School and talked to a secretary! _A SECRETARY_ told me more about my history than my grandparents ever did! Isn't that kind of ridiculous?" I asked sarcastically. My arms were folded and I was leaning over a little looking at Charlie like he was a moron.

"I don't care what Jessica Stanley says, it's more complicated than you think." He stopped, and sat down at the table and covered his eyes. " I know why you came here Ari, Rene and I aren't stupid. You're trying to reconnect to your parents, but they aren't in this town, or at LaPush or anywhere near here, so you need to either enjoy the next few weeks away from the city or I'm going to make Phil and Rene drag you back to New York. " he said frankly.

"Well isn't that just special." I said shifting my weight.

"Don't sass me." Charlie said.

"You know, I get it, my mom got married at 19 had a kid, she went on vacation and then you never saw her again, and that's not easy. But I'm not her and didn't grow up like she did, so you can't try to make up for all the mistakes you think you made."

Charlie looked up at me.

"There's things I'm going through right now that I can't explain and I need answers. I know there's more to it than you are letting on, but I can't sit pretty while every one else tries to protect me from something that means everything to me."

Charlie got up form the table. "Let's just talk about it in the morning."

I only agreed to stay over at Rachel's because it would be two days away from Charlie and I could still investigate more down at LaPush. Also the way Aaron was asking me to, ok I'll admit it was pretty cute.

I went upstairs and knocked out on my bed. And there it was that musky cinnamon wood scent I smelled on Aaron. I didn't realize it but I had picked it up it last night while I was having a cigarette. Ah, shit now I need a cigarette.

I slipped down the banister and crept through the front door. My jacket from the plane was still on the coat holder and I knew I had about three or four left. I grabbed the pack and a blue Bic lighter and walked out behind my Jeep. I sniffed the air and took in that smell. Maybe it was just the way the woods smelled and since LaPush was practically a forest it stuck to Aaron.

I lit up and sat on the back bumper of my car. Everything was quiet and still and I looked over to where I heard that growl sound last night but there was nothing. I relaxed and took another drag and then I heard it again that growling but it was coming from behind the house. I put the cigarette out and ran to the front porch, looked back for a second but I didn't go in. I moved so I could look up the side of the house and see my window maybe I could smoke on the roof if I could get up there. So I slipped back inside and quietly went up to my room. I opened my window all the way and looked up. I was used to climbing up the fire escapes and skipping rooftops of buildings so this was not that bad, plus I had excellent balance.

I crouched my body out of the window, with my hands on the top and my feet pushed against the sill. With an effortless kick of my legs I grabbed the top of the roof and hoisted myself up. The roof was only slightly slanted, good enough for me to sit on. I pulled the pack out of my pocket and started on the next one. I did my best thinking while smoking. I know Rene and Charlie aren't stupid but neither am I there's a reason that I've been kept from Forks for so long and it's because of all of the things I found out in one day. Aaron was right , if I stayed here a little longer what else would I find.

I thought of those ID's with the different names. I tried to put myself in their shoes. So far Between Bella and Edward and Jacob there was me, now if Bella went on vacation she most likely went with her husband. And if she did die over there, maybe Edward never came back? What if Alice and Jasper where technically my legal guardians, but they gave me to Rene and Phil? It still didn't put Jacob Black in a role that made sense. I decided if nothing emerged by the time the solstice hit I was getting on a plane to North Dakota.

I lit one up one more and leaned back looking at the moon. I could understand why a hungry wolf would howl at it, it's bright round shape off in the distance, it was the definition of longing.

I started to think of Aaron. Why had he shown up at the entrance? I'm guessing he knew Paul and Sam where there. But why go against them? They were older and probably had a higher rank in whatever stupid police group they had down on LaPush. It seemed kind of authoritarian for the older males of a cultural group to dictate such control but I guess some people's traditions are people's traditions. And then his involvement in my investigation, he just spoke about everything like he was right there with me all these years, like he already knew me. It was strange for someone to be so open, but I wasn't creeped out.

Where I come from, anyone willing to get in your car, is either expected to pay the fare at the end, or chop you up and lock you in a KFC freezer. But in a small town like this everyone knows everyone and familiarity makes people less suspicious of the next person to come along.

I finished smoking and decided to go in for the night. I threw my legs over the side and hoped down landing my feet on the edge and balancing like a ballerina I threw my body into my room. I heard something fall outside.

Shit my lighter. The jump was about 15 feet down. I'd gone further before without even a tingle in my knees. The field coach at my high school insisted I be scouted for the Olympics or something, but I was too invested in cello. I hoped down and landed with a small plié, picked it up, and then stood dead still. Standing on the front porch was Charlie.

"Artemis?" He said looking at me like I was some sort of contagion. It was an impossible landing from my window, something I just couldn't explain.

"Have you been _smoking_?" …. I couldn't believe that was his response.

"Um… yeah."

"And you're sneaking out?"

"No my lighter fell from the window." I said starting to feel a little nauseated by the situation.

"You were smoking out the window?" He asked still shock faced.

"No, I was… on the roof." I shrugged.

"How'd you get up there?"

"I jumped."

"Oh." He said still weary eyed. "Well you should quit… smoking." He pressed his lips together and walked inside the house. It was by far the strangest encounter I had with the man ever. I stood outside for a little bit on the front step and looked at the ground. _Not even a,' you could have broken you're neck,' or a 'how'd you jump from that height.' _I thought. It was one of the things about me, were I excelled physically beyond normalcy. I had to keep a lot of the things I could do a secret, there were a lot of ways you could get attention in New York, and a lot of ways you could fade into the background.

I learned more than how to cook from Loretta and Giacomo. They seemed to always know what to say to me about the things I was going through but never actually talked to me about it. Loretta and I had the same sort of look and taught me Italian well enough to fool the waiters on Mulberry St. When I first stopped sleeping they would sit outside on the fire escape and have a cigarette with me. After I moved to the Lower East Side I missed them a lot, but living with Rene and Phil was killing me, I would get high blood pressure and become angry very quickly, to the point where I had to physically go for a run to work it off.

Playing the cello also did the trick.

It was almost 11 and I decided I would just go in and read, maybe fall asleep at 2AM if I was lucky.

I woke up at 5 in the morning with _The Teleportation Accident _by Ned Beauman on my chest. Rene had found it one of her old boxes but couldn't remember where she had purchased it. I decided I would write Charlie a note explain that Rachel had invited me to LaPush for the next two days.

I packed my black denim backpack with some clothes and minimal toiletries and got in the car by 6. I felt like sitting in the sun as it rose over the many little creeks and lakes outside of the reservation. I drove for about 30 minutes until I came to a partition in the tress that led down to a lake. I parked the Jeep and popped out. I was wearing cut off green shorts, my Timberland boots and a white tank. I slid on down to the bank with a blanket from the trunk, rolled it out and sat watching the sun peek through the morning mist.

This was nice. There was greenery everywhere, and you could hear all the ticks and cracks from the woods, the brushing of the leaves and my breathing of the thick moist air. Even the lake had it's own tonal quality to me. All the sounds were like pieces of an orchestra and the sun was the maestro. Everything depended on the sun to keep the balance to keep the direction of the score and the tempo.

I sat there for a while, it felt like an hour but when I looked at my phone it read 11:13 AM. Rachel didn't say what time but I thought noon or 1 o'clock was late enough especially for preparing lots of food. I rolled the blanket up and proceeded up the hill. For some reason I trusted the woods and the wildlife more at night and less so much in the sun. It was a little creepier in the bright of day.

I drove for about 10 minutes before I saw someone standing about 50 yards away in the middle of the road. They were tall and dark and wearing black Condivo pants, black Vans, and no shirt. It was Aaron.

I was right about the eight pack.

His weight was shifted to his left leg and his head was cocked to the side. I stopped the car about four feet from him and opened the window.

"You know in the rest of the world, they have toll booths." I called to him. He walked over to the passenger door and pulled, it was locked though. He looked at me and I raised my shoulders, playing dumb. He walked over to my side of the door and looked down at me with the sun shinning around his silhouette.

"You gonna let me in our what?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know, should I?" I teased.

"Come on stop being cute and let me in."

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"I don't know how to stop being cute." I flirted at him. He smiled and shook his head.

"If you don't let me in I'll just sit onto the top of the car."

"Do I really need an escort? Plus, where's your car, how'd you get all the way out here?"

"Yes it's safer if you have one and I ran."

"Oh, well then….Get on up there." I said tilting my head towards the roof of the Jeep. And without missing a beat he vaulted himself onto the roof, not before tilting the car over to the left so much I felt the right wheels lift off a little. He must have weighed around 230 pounds of muscle.

I stepped on the gas a little harder than usual and drove into LaPush. A few people stopped and stared so about half way there I opened the passenger window and he slid in.

"I was enjoying the breeze." He smiled at me.

"So was your hair." His straight locks were windswept and pointing out in different directions. He pulled them back into the short pony tail. "Did you ever think of cutting it short on the sides and the back but long on top."

"Like a Mohawk?"

"No like the Morrissey haircut." When we pulled up to the hill road that led to Rachel's I showed him a picture on my phone.

"Looks fancy."

"It's easy to cut plus you'd look good in it."

"You wanna do it now? I know Paul's got clippers."

"Oh my God, really, yes."

We pulled up to Rachel's and walked inside. Rachel was there with a few other women around a table that was covered in what looked like some raw roots, dough, and a big bowl of maple syrup and vanilla.

"Hi." I said shyly. All the woman stared at me with this 'I know something you don't know' look.

"Ari! Come in let me introduce you!" There was one free seat at the table between Rachel and a shorter less attractive looking woman. They were all in their forties or late thirties but they looked somehow more mobile and youthful in their positions and demeanor. "Ari this is my twin sister Rebecca, and this is Emily and Kim."

I looked quickly at all of them and then back at Rachel. Emily had three faint scars travelling from her hairline to her chin. She had a very lovely face otherwise.

"Nice to meet you." I said standing awkwardly.

"Come sit with us, we're making root cakes." The woman named Emily said. I turned around and Aaron was still watching us.

"Ari is gonna help me cut my hair first." Aaron said leaning up against the counter.

"Aaron Redtree is going to cut his hair?" said Kim raising his eyebrows. "Hell hath frozen over."

The three of them giggled and continued cutting and stirring.

"Come on," Aaron said ignoring them.

"I'll be right back." I said to them, and Aaron led me to a bathroom where we found clippers and a towel. He sat on the edge of the tub and I wrapped the towel over his shoulders.

"Have you ever done this before?" he asked.

"Yeah I used to shave Phil's head all the time, when he joined the Yanks, it was a thing they used to do…. When was the last time you cut your hair?"

"Well I trim it every month but it's been this length since I was a teen."

"You sure you wanna do this?" I said looking at the clippers.

"Um… yeah do it." He said and closed his eyes.

I parted his hair evenly and brushed back the top portion of his hair with my fingers. His faced relaxed as I ran my fingers through his hair making sure the parts were even. I found a pair of scissors in the drawer. I snipped of a chunk in the back that I would finish off with clippers. He opened his eyes with the sound of the snip. Then the sides were next. I turned the clippers on and angled all around thinning out the hair on the sides and in the back and snipping some layers into the fuller cut.

When I was done he looked in the mirror. You could see his angular bone structure better now and he looked pretty cool.

"Damn, I look like a city slicker."

"All the girls will be chasing you now." I laughed folding my arms. He looked at me through the mirror.

"You've got pretty long hair yourself, ey." He turned around and tugged on the ends of my dark black-brown locks.

"Haha yeah, it hasn't grown since I was a freshman in high school. I'm afraid to cut it." He pulled it back so it sat on my shoulder.

"Hmm…. You'd look good with short hair." I smiled and tied off the bag his hair was in. He took it from me and we walked into the kitchen. The women all looked up.

"Wow." Rebecca said.

"Great Job Ari." Rachel agreed.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"You like it ladies?" Aaron said in a pseudo super model pose. They all laughed along with him. Someone came through the door I had never met before. He was also tall and wearing no shirt with jean shorts on. He eyed me suspiciously and walked over to Kim and kissed her.

"Jared this is Artemis." Rachel said nicely. Jared was around Sam's age. He put his eyes down and told Kim he'd be back tonight. He took a look at Aaron and walked out the door. Aaron looked out the door where he left.

"Are they all out there?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I gotta go." He walked over to me, and leaned down a little. I was still. He put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll see you later, thanks for the haircut." I gave him a weak smile and he followed Jared out.

"Well, he's got it bad." Rebecca said when he'd gone.

"Rebecca!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Come on Rachel it's so obvious." Kim said frankly.

"Um… he seems nice." I said shrugging. They all giggled and continued to prepare the food.

"Come on," Emily said. "Let me show you around the back, we need more flour." We walked out of the back door and Emily led me to a dry pantry shed attached to the back of the house.

"So Rachel tells me you're related to Bella Swan." Emily began.

"Yeah she was my mother." I said. "Did you know her?"

"Yes, we were friends. She was very close to Jacob who of course knew Sam, my husband." She turned her head to open the lock to the door, he scars where more prevalent in the daylight. "Bella was down at the reservation a lot before she... got married."

"To Edward Cullen." I finished.

"Yes." She said. "That family was banned form the reservation. Jacob left us because Bella chose the Cullen boy. We haven't seen him since."

"I've put something like that together, but why are you telling me?"

"Rachel's sick. Billy can't help her. Paul is worried about Curt now…. She needs her brother. Rebecca lives in Hawaii and can rarely come up because of her kids. Jacob needs to come home now there's nothing left for him to chase after all these years. We think, well Kim and I think if he knows you're here he'll return."

"I don't know yet if I'm his, Emily. Edward could be my father."

"I don't think it's possible, there were things about the Cullens….I don't think it's possible." We were silent for a moment.

"Does Rachel know where he is?" I asked Emily.

"I don't think so, but I think she speaks with him on the phone sometimes." She stepped inside the room and pulled a bag of flour out. At that moment Emily came out of the house.

"You ladies need help?" she called. I lifted three five-pound bags effortlessly with one arm and trotted over to the door. They stared at me wide eyed for a moment and let me walk in.

I helped them bake and cook enough for six armies. At the end when Kim asked if it was enough I laughed but the rest of them where counting still.

"How many people are coming over?" I asked.

"Just the pa-.. the guys from Sam's patrol." Emily answered. When night hit I was getting anxious. I wanted to see Aaron again but I didn't want to be with him in front of the Sam's cronies. I excused myself for a cigarette and walked through the backyard clearing and into the woods.

I lit one up and started thinking. If Rachel talked to Jacob then maybe he knew I was here. And maybe his number was in her cell phone. If she was distracted for long enough I could maybe look through her contacts or maybe call him. All of a sudden something landed behind me with a loud thud. I turned and there was Aaron in his Condivo pants but barefoot.

"What is this?" He said grabbing the cigarette out of my hands.

"Ey, yo give that back."

"Nope, no smoking allowed on the reservation. Rules are rules."

"Come on!" I whined.

"It's nasty, plus you smell too good to ruin it with this."

"Well thanks I guess."

"Gimme the pack." He commanded standing over me.

"No." I said and a pivoted away from him to put it behind me. He reached and I sashayed. He lunged and I ducked out of his way. After that he pinned me to the ground and the wrestle began. "No no no, agh my hair." "Sorry" We continued this way and he got frustrated. "How are you so strong?" his brow furrowed.

"I ate my Wheaties."

"Oh yeah." And then he threw his fingers into my hair behind my head, pulled my head back against the ground and covered my lips with his. I was shock still for a moment. His warmth spread all around me as he took my bottom lip in both of his a sucked. His other arm went around the small of my back and pushed my body into his own. I dropped the pack and wrapped my arms around his neck flipped him over, grabbed the pack and hopped off of him before he could get his tongue in my mouth.

I looked down at him on the ground with a sly grin. Threw the pack on his chest and ran inside. There weren't any cigarettes left in them.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

I stayed the night by Ari's house frustrated by her smoking habit but interested in the wolf like agility she possessed in scaling and jumping the house. She sat outside for a bit and I thought about approaching her but I didn't. Early in the morning I saw her leave for Rachel's but she made a stop by a lake on the way. I heard Sam's voice calling me…. _Aaron.. pack meeting now…at the beach house. _I doubled back to my house and found the whole pack there: Sam, Paul, Jared, Collin, Embry, Brady, Quil, Brandon, Skai and Mark (friends from when I turned), and now Curt as well. There were twelve of us now, more than there had been in I don't know how long.

We all sat on the logs in the sand, most of us bare chested, Embry brought me a pair of pants, I slid them on and we commenced the meeting. Sam began.

"As you all know now, Artemis Whitlock, is the reason that Brandon and Curtis have become a part of the pack. After careful conversation with Rachel Black she has confirmed that the girl is a descendent of Ephraim Black…. which makes it impossible for us to ban her from our lands. She is also the imprintee of Aaron Redtree and that alone makes her untouchable to harm. However it is still unknown her true nature."

"She's not a vampire." I said sternly.

"And she's not a human, and she's no wolf."

"Until further investigation is conducted, "Paul began. "Rachel has offered to house her and keep her under observation in the hopes of suppressing _other genetic traits." _

"Curt and Daniel will stay with Emily and I." Sam said to Paul. It was something that they agreed before obviously. "Tonight we'll gather for the beginning of the solstice at Paul's where she will be in attendance. This will be an opportunity to observe the danger of the situation. "

"There's no danger she's harmless." I said.

"We have our people to protect, I would hope if you were in my position you would do the same Aaron."

"I understand. I won't deny she possesses qualities of our kind as well as theirs-"

"What do you mean specifically?" Quil asked.

"Her skin is very cool, and her smell is sweet, and she moves like them I guess, very still and her eyes are red but she doesn't feed from humans."

"That is what we need to figure out still."

"She doesn't." I said through my teeth.

"We'll know soon enough."

"We're going on a run at 12:30, we'll meeting behind Paul's. Emily, Kim, Rebecca and Rachel will stay with her today and report back to us. At 5 we'll return to the house for dinner." Sam said, and it was final. I noticed he had left Claire out. Claire had just become of age to marry Quil and I'm sure he didn't want to jeopardize that. He had waited too long, been 25 for too long to let anything happen to her. I felt a little guilty for a moment. I knew why they were scared. Rachel must have convinced the other women she was harmless to have them stay. I knew Emily was fearless and Sam trusted that. I was shocked that Kim had convinced Jared.

But she was Jacob Black's daughter, the wolf they had run with. He was our brother and he fought vampires with Sam, Paul, Embry and Quil. And that was something they had to respect. Jacob also abandoned his pack for a human who married a leech. It was a real twisted situation. All that mattered to me was her though, she was everything to me, and maybe my judgment was cloudy because of it, maybe I would leave the pack for her, I didn't know. She was my only priority.

I was cruising on the roof half way to Rachel's house. Some kids were cheering me on like a superhero before she opened the window to let me in. At Rachel's house I saw Emily's face take her in. Emily knew Bella and I could see her looking for those genetic traces of her friend and of Jacob of course. I don't know how her mind was made up though.

After Ari had cut my hair into some fancy New York style which I agreed I looked better in I left her with the girls. Jared looked at me like I was a freak and wouldn't even speak to Ari. I could tell he didn't like the idea of leaving her there, with no wolf to protect them. One quarter vampire was one quarter too much.

When I walked out of the back door the whole packed stared at me.

"Did she do your nails too?" Mark laughed.

"Yeah what do you think of the color?" I asked showing him my middle finger.

"I think you look good buddy." Skai joined in. "Someone should have told me the pack was doing a photo shoot."

"Shut up."

"Hey Sam if Emily wanted to tweeze your eyebrows would you let her?" Embry joked.

"Probably." Said Quil. The whole pack burst into laughter at the thought of Emily plucking Sam's brows.

"How many princess parties have you been to again Quil?" Sam came back at him. Oooooooh. The pack went wild.

"Alright you freaks of nature." Skai interjected. "Let's run."

We shifted under the trees and were off. Sam led the way with Paul Quil and Embry on his flank, Colin and Brady and I following up, Mark, Skai and the two youngest on our rear. The run felt great. Curt was just like Brandon. Enjoying his first run with wonder. Jared was worried about Kim. Mark was thinking about the root cakes he was going to eat later. I started to think about Ari last night jumping down from the window.

…._That's interesting…._Paul thought.

_...Ew, she smokes…nasty…Brady thought. _

…_What do you care…._ I added.

…_Nasty tic girl…_Jared thought. And that was it. Being one of the biggest I could really ram him hard, maybe I over did it, but if someone said that about Kim he'd do the same. I launched my self at him mid run. We went tumbling off into a small creek and splashed a six foot wave of water around us. I growled at him when he slid away.

…_ENOUGH!... _Sam's voice was ringing in our ears. _…Jared watch it, she's an imprintee…._

In the distance Brandon and Curtis where play fighting, trying to knock down a small tree with their paws. Embry and Quill pulled them by their tails and it was an all on war. Jared ran after Sam and the pack started moving north. I stayed behind for a moment and caught my reflection in the water. My fur was shorter on the sides and longer along my spine, mimicking the new haircut Ari had given me. I though I looked kinda cooler as a wolf as well.

I caught up with them near the boundary where the woods sloped down parallel to a river that marked Forks territory. We never really ran past it because of the hikers that would come down from Seattle. It was a little past high noon when most of them would go out. For the rest of the run we did our best to keep our thoughts to ourselves.

But as the sun set I began to miss her so badly it was causing everyone else discomfort. This had been the longest I had been away since seeing her when I was in that tree. I decided to double back to Rachel's where I found Ari at the edge of the clearing, and yeah she was smoking. I found my pants about 100 feet away from her. I climbed up a tree and moved my way through the branches until I hoped down behind her.

"What is this?" I said grabbing the cigarette out of her hands.

"Ey, yo give that back." She squealed, and reached up, like she could get that high off the ground.

"Nope, no smoking allowed on the reservation. Rules are rules." I mocked her.

"Come on!" she whined.

"It's nasty, plus you smell too good to ruin it with this." I smiled down at her.

"Well thanks I guess."

"Gimme the pack." I said. We were barely two inches apart and I was looking down almost a good foot and a half away.

"No." she said. We started doing this strange dance around each other. She moved so lightning fast it was pretty un-human like. Before I could stop myself I tackled her down to the floor and the wrestle began.

"How are you so strong?" I asked.

"I ate my Wheaties." She smiled. That was it, I'd couldn't take it anymore. Between that smart mouth and that beautiful face, the way her body felt under mine, being a man I had no chance.

"Oh yeah." I asked sardonically. And then I reached my arms around her and pushed her hard into the ground with my weight, my lips enveloped hers in what felt like the happiest moment of my life. I tried deepening the kiss tugging at her bottom lip. When her arms came around me I was on Cloud Nine. She turned me over and I felt myself hardening. Shit. Then she stood up.

She looked down at me with the devil in her eyes and threw the pack down on my chest and started running towards the house. I sat up and the pack fell lightly into my lap. I opened it up and it was empty. I never wanted to fuck a girl more in my life.

From the POV of Artemis Whitlock.

I made it back to Rachel's with Aaron right on my tail. Damn that was a good kiss. My heart was still beating fast from it. Before I could make it up the stairs he was behind me. His arms wrapped around my mid section and pulled me from opening the door.

From behind me he bent his lips to my ear, I waited for him to say something, but he planted a soft perfect kiss on my neck. He reached out , opened the door and pushed me inside. I must have had a huge grin on my face because the women where looking at me with that same knowing look. I was a little embarrassed but not that much. Rachel looked out the window and smiled. "They're coming now."

I hadn't realized it in my distracted stupid kissing haze but the whole house smelled phenomenal. Most of the mini cakes where pulled out of the oven and stacked in neat piles on huge platters. Kim started filling a huge serving bowl of rabbit stew she had on before I got there and Emily was putting a huge platter of mash potatoes and green beans on the table. Everything smelled so great but I knew I couldn't stomach any of it. Out of politeness I would of course force down whatever I could, but I was without a doubt in store for a long night of vomiting.

Suddenly about a dozens of men all built just like Aaron cam spilling through the back door. Out of them I only recognized Sam, Paul, and Kim's husband Jared. The last two where the youngest, but one looked familiar…. It was Curt. He was about four inches taller since yesterday. That was freaky, I thought he was sick but he wasn't here all day so I assumed he was at school. Aaron came in finally and moved next to me popping one of the root cakes in his mouth.

"Gud tu si yu gen." He said with his mouth full, putting his right arm around me. I gently rolled my eyes at him and looked back on the room. Everyone was pulling shirts on and standing facing me. Aaron gulped down the rest of his cake. "Ari this is Mark, Skai, Emry, Quil, Jared you me before….Sam and Paul of course, Collin, Brady, Brandon, and Curtis."

"Hi." I said looking up at everyone. Half the room looked at me skeptically, the other were more weak smiled about their responses.

"Nice to meet you Ari." Said Skai. I smiled at him.

"Come on let's sit." Aaron said. He led me over to the side of the table pushed against the wall. Rachel must have added to leaves to the table because it had expanded since I went out for a smoke. Everyone was sitting comfortably down and Emily and Kim were setting the last bit of food down.

"I'm starving." said Curt. Rachel sat on my right, and for some reason I felt like I was under observation and that the interrogation was going to start. And boy do I have great intuition.

"We really love the make-over you've given our Aaron here." Mark said smiling at him. I smiled some of the guys chuckled. "So eh… is that what you do out in… uh where you from?"

"Oh, I'm from New York, and no, I play the cello."

"Professionally?" Brady asked.

"Yeah, I do some recordings, some orchestral work." Whew easy topics. Everyone starting piling food onto their plates. I took about a teaspoon of rabbit stew, some mashed potatoes, and one root cake. Everyone was eating clanking forks and knives, spoons, glasses. Laughing talking. It was rowdy and fun. The rabbit was good, to most people it would have rocked their world but to me every spice and flavor was so pungent covering the meat. The root cakes were very earthy and I swallowed the mash potatoes whole so they didn't pass over my tounge. I felt like I had rocks in my stomach.

"Have some more." Rachel offered going o pile some salad on my plate.

"Oh no thank you, I'm very full." I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, I sort of have a ….. unique diet." At this everyone fell silent. It almost jolted me out of my seat.

"Do-tell." Sam said slowly.

"Um, it's like gluten-free, glucose free, dairy free, sugar free." I said.

"So…. You eat…?" Jared asked making the moment quite suspenseful.

"Mostly, a lean protein diet." I said nodding. "Like rabbit."

The whole room went on ticking and eating in a more quiet way. I hadn't even realized Aaron taking my hand under the table and holding it tightly. What a weird group of people. If things were weird now they only got weirder.

"I like your nail polish color Ari." Emily commented. Which was kind of random for dinner conversation.

"Thanks it's called Vampire Red." I said looking at my nails. Then without warning Mark and Skai burst into laughter, followed by the rest of then men at the table. Drinks went flying and a fork planted right into the wall near Paul's head. Aaron put his right arm around me and pulled me close kissing my cheek.

"What did I say?" I whispered to him.

"Nothing you're perfect." He said kissing the space between the end of my eyebrow and my hairline.

"Okay, okay settle down. I'm bringing the root cakes out." Emily and Kim helped her bring them to the table, I offered to help but they waved me away.

"Ari helped us make these." Kim said while popping one into her mouth. Aaron took four and broke of a piece for me. I broke it up it up and ate the crumbs slowly. The men started talking about some random wood thing, a park code blah blah blah blah blah. I just sat listening missing a lot of the words as Aaron stroked my hand. He wasn't really involved in the conversation either. I helped Emily and Kim clear everything when there was nothing left. I was looking around for the coffee after a while before I realized that was an east coast thing that came from Italians.

After a long dinner party in Italy you'd serve coffee with desert not because of the flavor palate but because your guests needed to be aware on your trip home from that persons house, so as not to get robbed or lost. How could you let your friends leave mostly tired from the food, and mostly drunk from the wine without some caffeine for clarities sake? When the huge Italian influx came to New York in the twenties and thirties restaurants started adopting the tradition in order to make more from the desert course than they would otherwise.

Coffee was something I could tolerate, it actually made me feel better most of the time.

When I turned back to the table Mark and Skai where heading out the back rough housing and Curt and Brandon where following them. Emily was on Sam's lap and Rachel was hugging her sister good bye. "You should visit more often."

Rebecca lived in Hawaii with her husband who was a pro surfer who owned a training facility and bar on the beach. I went over to say goodbye and gave her a one air kiss on the cheek she wasn't expecting.

Emily and Kim were getting driven home by Rachel which Paul ordered her to do under his breath while he thought I wasn't listening. And then I realized. I was the only woman left and the only people left in the house were Paul, Sam, and Aaron. Aaron was behind me looking a little confused at the two of them. He took my hand and led me outside. Once we were on the back porch he put both hands on my shoulders as the rest of the guys stood staggered in the yard facing us. Except for Quil. Quil was facing away and seemed to be looking down at his stomach and then he turned slowly.

A breeze blew by and a very pretty scent came my way it was mouth watering and brilliant. I cocked my head to the side and saw a four inch slash mark on Quil's stomach that was dripping blood. My throat went dry and I couldn't speak. Before I knew it I was about three feet away from him until I stopped.

"You're bleeding-" But I couldn't finish because I was flying in the air from a powerful blow that didn't hurt but was enough to get me on the other side of the grass. Aaron caught me. Across the way I could see Quil wipe away his stomach without a trace of a wound that caused that sweet smelling blood to pour. _What? _

My mind was foggy all I could do was think of the burn in my throat and the blood that was on the towel. Somewhere in the distance I heard shouting. And then I realized in was Aaron and the other men yelling back and forth.

"It's still in her." Jared said.

"She wasn't going to do anything. If you ever hit her again-!"

"Tomorrow you take her to her father and that's an order." Sam said. The rest of the guys ran into the woods, and then I passed out.

When I came back to consciousness, I was in Rachel's living room with my head propped up on pillows and my legs resting over Aarons lap. My hands were in his and he looked like he had been watching me sleep.

"Drink this. " he said. There was a glass of crushed ice with some red liquid in it mixed together like a snow cone. It smelled good.

"What is it?"

"Um… it's a cranberry juice smoothie." I took a sip, it tasted great. I drained the whole thing in a second then sat back on the pillow. I suddenly remembered everything that happened.

"What the fuck happened?" I asked him.

"Jesus, I didn't know they were going to do that." He said shaking his head. He grabbed my hand and interlocked our fingers and pressed it to his chest. There was something about the way we were, made me feel like I had been here with him at LaPush all along. New York seemed like a distant past life in which I carried memories over from. It was strange.

"I guess I reacted strangely… how did he heal so fast?" I asked. Aaron sat motionless on the couch. His eyes stayed planted on the wall across the room. There was something about him in this moment that made me feel he was much older than twenty- eight.

And then I remembered what Emily had said about Rachel and Jacob speaking on the phone.

"Who else is here?" I asked.

"Just us, Paul had Rachel stay at Sam and Emily's… we are going to have to leave tomorrow."

I got up from where we sat and pulled our hands apart. I walked over to the phone planted on the wall in the kitchen and hit the gray button labeled CALL-HIS.

I scrolled through a few numbers until I saw UNKNOWN 701-555-6654 I quickly memorized it….. I pulled out my cell and did a google search for the phone area code for North Dakota. It was 701. I hit DIAL on the house phone.

"What are you doing?" Aaron came over to me. I looked up at him and back away.

"Give me the phone, Ari." He said holding his hand out. It was ringing in my ear.

"Please Aaron." I said. It was still ringing.

"I'm sorry."

"_Hello-" _I heard from a cool female voice on the phone. But before I could answer Aaron had grabbed me and then the phone out of my hands and then hung up.

"Mother fucker!" I yelled at him squirming in his grip. I tried to break free but he was just too big to over power. The phone began to ring but he held me down on the kitchen floor. When it rang he didn't loosen his grip around my arms.

"I'm sorry." He said again. He was behind me on the floor both his legs were wrapped around mine spreading them about a foot apart my arms were glued to my body under his long basketball player length. I relaxed and leaned back into him but he barely loosed his grip. "There's things you just don't understand."

"I am so fucking tired, of people saying that to me." I said through my teeth. He moved his right hand up to the side of my face and neck. He turned my face to his.

"Ari. I am going to have to … protect you from so many things." And then his lips were down on mine for the second time that day. This time he held me tighter and slipped his tongue into my mouth feeling mine, sucking on my lips, and gripping the back of my hair right above my neck. It was a slow deep kiss. I could taste the sweet inside of his mouth. His left arm hadn't let my arms free because even though he was kissing me I think he knew not to trust me.

"When we get up off the floor," he said in my ear, "you are gonna go sit on the couch like a good girl, okay?"

"Take me to North Dakota." Was my response.

"No." he said shaking his head. I leaned into his face about a centimeter from his lips.

"I can make it worth your while." I whispered. I felt something really hard press into my right hip. My eyes shot down and I looked back up at him and smiled.

"_Jesus, Ari_." He said closing his eyes. He kicked the phone down the hall, twisted me over his shoulder and lifted me up off the ground. It was pitch black through the window and when he turned the light off in the living room it was almost just as black in here. He put me down on the couch and said "stay." I did.

I heard him go over to where the phone was and pull the batteries out. Then he opened the kitchen window and threw them outside. Shit. He leaned over me sitting on the couch.

"You're sleeping in Curt's room. And I'll be sleeping in front of the door."

"Fine I need to use the bathroom first." I said annoyed.

"Fine." He smiled. Picked me up. And planted me in the bathroom. And yes there was no window. I turned the shower and the faucet on. My IPhone was still stuck in my back pocket. I pulled it out and dialed 7-0-1-5-5-5—6-6-5-4. It was ringing and ringing and ringing. And then I heard a beep. "_Hi is Jacob Black or Bella Cullen are there, this is Artemis…can you give me a call back." _I left my number by punching it into the keypad. A great invention since no one could ever understand what the hell your number was at the end of your message. I turned the faucet off, and was about to turn the shower head when my phone began to buzz.

"_Hello?"_ I said into the receiver.

"_Ari?"_ It was a low male voice.

"_Yes."_

"_It's Jacob. You know who I am?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Did Rachel give you this number?" _

"_No, I kinda stole it."_

"_Ari, I can't talk long, listen – trust no one but Aaron okay, do whatever he says." _

"_Okay…are you…?" _I began but couldn't muster the courage to really ask.

"_I have to go know. Stay with Aaron." _Then he hung up. I just realized he had whispered the entire phone call. Which meant he was probably hiding it from someone else. I had never stopped planning on going to North Dakota. But I had never wanted to leave more than in this second.


End file.
